A recipe for success in NHS food

A national award has been dished up to north east healthcare staff for their commitment to patients’ food.

The Hospital Caterers Association, which has 15 branches across the UK, held its annual awards ceremony to recognise the significant contribution made by healthcare caterers.

The Northern Branch was presented with the Chairman’s Choice Award for its strong leadership and hard work, and the dedication of its officers in ensuring patients are provided with wholesome and nutritious meals.

Branch chairman Tony Wealleans, who is catering manager at Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The award is greatly appreciated and will help keep us motivated in whatever we do to improve the services that we provide to our patients.”

The branch has been working hard to make its monthly meetings interesting, and has held them in various locations across the region.

Members have also taken part in a number of site visits to strengthen working relationships between different healthcare facilities and enable more collaborative working to improve services for patients.

More than 300 million meals a year are served by around 300 NHS trusts, across 1,200 hospitals. This amounts to more than £500m spent on food, and the NHS is the UK’s largest provider of meals.